India’s stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane was excited to have Rohit Sharma back in the squad ahead of the third Test in Sydney, saying the right-hander’s experience at the highest level matters a lot to the tourists in the crunch situation of the ongoing Test series against Australia.
At the moment, the four-match Test series is tied 1-1 between Australia and India with the third Pink Test scheduled at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) from Thursday (January 7), and tourists would certainly like to continue their winning form at SCG after series leveling Boxing Day Test victory.
While both Australia and India teams are gearing up for the crucial third Test, Rahane said Rohit has been batting really well in the nets and he would be seen batting at the top for Team India in the New Year’s Test against Australia at the SCG on Thursday.
Rahane said at a virtual press conference on Wednesday: “Firstly, we all are excited to have Rohit back, his experience at the highest level matters a lot. He is batting really well in the nets, he has had 7-8 sessions, he started practicing in Melbourne as soon as he arrived there after the end of the second Test.
He has been batting really well, the last couple of series; he has been playing as an opener, so you will definitely see him batting at the top.”
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On Umesh Yadav’s absence, Rahane said: “Umesh is our main bowler, he has been doing well for us, it's unfortunate that he got injured, we will definitely miss him, but it gives an opportunity to other guys to do well at the highest level, Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin have been great for us, it's about an entire bowling unit, I am really happy for Mohammed Siraj with the way he bowled in the second Test, with Umesh getting injured in the second innings, Siraj really stood up.”
So far in the two Tests of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Australia could score 200 just once and Rahane said the Indian cricket team is ready with their plans for the Sydney Test.
The right-hander further added, “As a team, you have 3-4 plans and you have to see which plan can work on the given day, if plan A doesn't work, then we go to other plans. Australia is a very dangerous team so you have to be prepared, depending on the situation and wickets, we plan the stuff.”
Rahane signed off by saying, “The thing with Ashwin, his knowledge, he is always looking to learn some new skills and that's what matters a lot, really happy to see Ashwin bowling this well, let's hope he continues his form in the next two Tests as well.”
Here’s the India squad for SCG Test:
Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan.
(With ANI Inputs)
